Case study · International scientific communication

International scientific communication: how do you prepare experts to defend their cases in English?

Q: What kind of English training suits scientific experts?

Training built around the communication tasks that determine their effectiveness: presenting an analysis, explaining a method, defending a case, answering questions and writing precisely. Scientific vocabulary is still necessary, but it is not enough without work on argumentation and interaction.

Q: How do you train public servants to argue their case in European bodies?

By starting from the exchanges they actually take part in: meetings, working groups and contributions to documents with their European counterparts. The mainly remote programme reaches staff spread across the whole country, and continuity with the same trainer allows the trainer to gradually understand each participant's challenges.

An expert may master their subject and still struggle when they have to explain it, answer an objection or defend a recommendation in English. In a European setting, this difficulty is not only linguistic: it can limit an organisation's ability to get its analyses understood and to carry weight in a collective decision.

In short

For experts, being effective in English is not just a matter of scientific vocabulary. Linguaphone builds the course around the communication tasks that matter in their work: presenting an analysis, explaining a method, defending a case, answering questions and writing precisely. Argumentation and interaction are worked on with the same trainer, which makes this work sustainable over time.

The starting point

The initial challenge

Participants take part in meetings and working groups with European counterparts. There they present results, explain positions and support cases in precise English, with tight schedules and a wide geographical spread.

General training would have stayed too far removed from these high-stakes situations. Work limited to terminology, on the other hand, would have done little to prepare them for interaction.

The challenge to solve

Staff spread across the whole country
Specialised needs, specific to each expert
Real situations to prepare for, sometimes at short notice
A requirement for continuity with the same trainer from one year to the next
A need for effectiveness in speaking as much as precision in writing

Language: Scientific and professional English
Audience: Staff working with European and international partners
Expressed need: Carrying the organisation's expertise internationally

Our answer

The solution deployed

The programme is mainly remote, with the same trainer from one year to the next: experts are supported wherever they are posted, and sessions fit around their schedules. Lessons draw on their real activities, such as presenting work, preparing a meeting or answering an objection, so that practice focuses on the situations where language weighs on the decision.

Management

A mainly remote programme, accessible anywhere in the country
Scheduling built around the scientific teams' calendars
The same lead trainer from one year to the next
Collaboration renewed over several years

Teaching

Placement assessment and individual objectives
Real situations: meetings, presentations of work, written documents
Flipped classroom: the lesson is devoted to speaking practice
One-to-one lessons, as close as possible to each staff member's needs

Remote
One-to-one lessons
Flipped classroom

Our method, step by step

The programme in figures

85%
of sessions held remotely: 3 years
of evaluations tracked

The outcome

The results

A programme renewed over several years

Indicators for 2023, 2024 and 2025

93%
Overall satisfaction: 4.7/5
Trainer satisfaction: 98%
Recommendation rate

What followed

Collaboration renewed over several years.

What this case shows

This case shows that scientific expertise can be worked on as a communication situation: accuracy of content, clarity of message and the ability to defend a position. Language then becomes a lever of influence in international bodies, not just vocabulary to acquire.

Three conditions for success

1 Start from the expected communication tasks rather than from a generic scientific English programme.
2 Work on authentic documents and situations, within a framework suited to their confidentiality.
3 Establish teaching continuity that allows the trainer to gradually understand the participant's challenges.

Facing the same challenge? identify the moments when the quality of English really changes the experts' ability to convince, cooperate or decide. These are the moments that should shape the course.

The content of my course was entirely suited to my needs. My trainer's help with documents I had to present orally at European meetings was very much appreciated. End-of-course evaluation · public expertise body

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What kind of English training suits scientific experts?

How do you prepare scientists to present and defend their work in English?

By drawing on their real cases and work situations. The flipped classroom and one-to-one lessons move preparation upstream, so that the session is devoted to speaking practice: presenting, nuancing, rephrasing, interrupting tactfully, checking understanding and answering under pressure. The trainer helps make the message understandable, structured and defensible, without taking the place of the participant's scientific expertise.

How do you train public servants to argue their case in European bodies?

Go further

How we measure: every figure on this page comes from the end-of-course evaluations completed by learners (2023, 2024 and 2025). Trainer satisfaction is the average of four criteria (delivery, listening, encouragement, clarity); the recommendation rate is the share of ratings of 4 or 5 out of 5. This case study is illustrative: the client is not named and is described in deliberately general terms.

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